To celebrate "Tarzan of the Apes"'s centennial this month--Edgar Rice Burroughs' first Tarzan novel was released in the October 1912 issue of "All-Story Magazine"--I have been compulsively reading the first novels in what eventually became a series of some two dozen books. Book #2, "The Return of Tarzan" (1913), was a fairly direct sequel to the initial classic outing, while book #3, "The Beasts of Tarzan," picks up the tale several years later. This novel originally appeared in serial form in the pages of "All-Story Cavalier" magazine in 1914 (the popular pulp had debuted in 1905 and would end its run in 1916), with a cover price of...10 cents. It made its first book appearance two years later. The shortest of the first four Tarzan books, coming in at a mere 159 pages (I refer here to the popular series of Ballantine paperbacks of the 1960s, which introduced Tarzan to a whole new generation of readers), it is a relentlessly fast-paced and compact affair, and fairly gripping from its very first page. On that page, Tarzan--now the father, with his bride Jane Portman, of an infant son, Jack--learns that his archenemy from book #2, Nikolas Rokoff, has just busted out from a French jail. And on page 2, he discovers that Rokoff has wasted little time in wreaking his vengeance on the noble Lord Greystoke. Jack has been kidnapped, and Tarzan and Jane are soon captured and brought by ship to the deserted "Jungle Island," off the coast of west Africa. Tarzan is marooned and left to his fate, Jack is to be handed over to a tribe of cannibals, while the devilish and lustful Rokoff has other plans for the nubile Lady Greystoke. All this, in just the first 13 pages! Ere long, Tarzan explores his desert island, becomes friendly with an ape tribe headed by the intelligent anthropoid Akut, tames a vicious panther named Sheeta (Tarzan's rescue of Sheeta and subsequent bonding with the jungle cat may recall to some readers the Biblical story of Daniel and the lion), and finds his very own Friday: Mugambi, chief of the Wagambi of Ugambi (!), a black native who, ultimately, also bonds with the Ape Man. And so, with this motley crew of man and beasts, Tarzan attempts to make it to the mainland and rescue his son and wife.... "The Beasts of Tarzan," as mentioned, is absolutely relentless in its pace--indeed, the entire novel is essentially one long chase sequence--and wastes zero time whatsoever in setting things up. Bang, right out of the gate, we are off and running, and the thrills just never let up! Action highlights of this entry are Tarzan's underwater fight with a crocodile, Tarzan and his crew invading a ship full of cutthroat mutineers, Tarzan's escape from the clutches of a cannibal sacrifice, and Jane's solo flight through the jungle, the crazed Rokoff at her heels. As usual, the book's chapters are arranged in cliffhanger fashion, with Burroughs practically daring his audience to stop reading. Also, as usual, the novel is presented with overlapping and concurrent story lines alternating for our attention, a device that is a tad confusing in some instances. Still, it all ultimately manages to hang together. The character of Tarzan here is very much the savage we have come to love from book #1 (he was a man of civilization for at least half of book #2), killing his animal prey and cutting out bloody steaks to devour raw. In a fascinating early segment, Burroughs shows us how remarkably proficient the Ape Man is at staying alive in the wild and at woodcraft, as Tarzan, on his first day on his desert isle, makes himself a stone knife, a bow and arrows, a loincloth, an arboreal shelter and a fire; no one on CBS' "Survivor" has ever done better, to put it mildly! The novel is an excellent showcase for Jane, also, who has not previously seemed nearly as brave and resourceful; likewise, the villainous Rokoff is presented as more diabolical, vicious and cravenly than ever, and his comeuppance toward the novel's conclusion is a satisfying one. "The Beasts of Tarzan," in short, is a highly successful, extremely exciting entry in the Tarzan series, if not a perfect one. Par for the course, Burroughs makes a few flubs here and there (such as when he refers to Rokoff's lieutenant, Alexis Paulvitch, as "Alexander," and when he writes that Tarzan had, in book #1, given the ape Kerchak a chance to escape, rather than Terkoz), but most readers will be too caught up in the fast-moving sweep of events to care, or even notice. As I've written elsewhere, even after almost 100 years, these books can prove highly addictive. For example, in "Beasts," Paulvitch manages to escape Tarzan's clutches and flee into the jungle. Guess I'm going to HAVE to proceed on to book #4 now, "The Son of Tarzan," to see what happens next....
“The Beasts of Tarzan” by Edgar Rice Burroughs was published in May and June of 1914 in “All-Story Cavalier”. The better known details of Tarzan and Jane are handled in the first two books, but this book seems to get less of a mention than those two, or even then the following book in the series. For myself, I think this book contributes a key factor to the legend of Tarzan, that of his mastery over many animals, and his ability to call them to his aid. At the start of this book, we learn that Rokoff has escaped, and by the end of the first chapter he has kidnapped Tarzan and Jane’s son, as well as Tarzan and Jane, though Tarzan doesn’t know that Jane has been taken. Rokoff takes Tarzan to a tropical location by boat, and forces him to sign over his fortune, before letting him off. Tarzan believes he is getting off in Africa, and so he believes he will quickly be able to make his way back to society and chase down Rokoff, but he soon learns that he is on an island. For a while, it looks like this book will somewhat mimic “The Return of Tarzan” in it being a series of events depicting Tarzan vs. Rokoff, or Tarzan vs. some kind of wild animal, but that is not the completely the case. Burroughs puts his wonderful imagination to use and puts forward the idea of Tarzan being able to force his will over some beasts, and indeed some humans as well, and that he can then call them to aid him, and that they can call him as well. So, while it is true that the book essentially deals with those same kinds of events, Burroughs manages to make them much less repetitive to the reader than they were in the first two books.Many of the weaknesses of the first two books still exist here, but to a lesser extent, and that is why I found this to be the best of the first three Tarzan novels. One of the oddities of this book is that it ends with our heroes being in much the same position as they were before. We do meet some new characters, such as Akut, the leader of a tribe of apes, and Sheeta, a panther which Tarzan manages to master, and a villain or two are eliminated, but other than that their situation is much the same when the story ends. Ultimately, the story isn’t as repetitive as the previous two books, and Burroughs’ new ideas help it feel fresh and new, so I am giving this a higher rating than the first two books of the series.
What do You think about The Beasts Of Tarzan (2003)?
The nefarious Rokoff is back to exact revenge on Tarzan. Kidnapping Tarzan's son to lure Tarzan aboard a ship. Jane unwittingly falls into the trap as well so that eventually the whole gang is back in Africa! Rokoff strands Tarzan on "Jungle Island" where he enlists the aid of a panther, a group of apes and a native warrior before he makes his way to the mainland to pursue Rokoff, Jane and young Jack (or so he thinks).The rest is a non-stop chase through the jungle; through villages of both frie
—Mark
Tony: Page 1 - 36: Question 1: The beginning of the story Tarzan's son is kidnapped. We can see a whole picture of a epitome family. Rokoff suddenly stole their son for the nurse. Tarzan and Jane tried to find the child and they fell in to many dangerous situation. I remembered a TV show "Nothing's impossible!" on my country which talked about a rich family and their kidnapped child. Someone stole their child when he was five years old and put him in a penniless family. After 25 years, they found each other through that program. However, the mother is blind because her frustrations. In the same way, Tarzan went to the jungle to ask for help, and they willing to pay a lot of money for Rokoff so that the boy is safe. Rokoff doesn't want that. Question 2: When I read this book I also remembered the Jungle Books which tells about Tarzan when he was child. It is different with this book which tells about his adult time. When he was a little boy - Mowgli - Baloo, Bagheera mentored and taught Mowgli the law of the Jungle. They changed a little and weak bog to become a strong man who could killed the Shekhan - tiger. Now, the black panther and the bear are Tarzan's best friend. In addition, still maintained his intelligence and strength. He won the King - Akut and then he was helped.
—Tuan Nguyen
Edgar Rice Burroughs -lukumaraton on edennyt Tarzan-sarjan kolmanteen osaan "Tarzanin pedot" (Kirjayhtymä, 1990 - 12. painos). Lapsuuden muistikuvat kirjasta olivat hyvin positiivisia, ja muistelisin että olisin jossakin yhteydessä saattanut nimetä sen yhdeksi sarjan parhaista kirjoista. Huh huh.Sarjan edellisessä osassa esitelty arkkikonna Nikolas Rokoff on päässyt pakenemaan vankilasta ja hautoo kostoa Tarzanille - ja onnistuukin iskemään pahemman kerran apinamiehen lannevaatteen alle ryöstämällä Janen ja vauvaikäisen Jack-pojan. Sankarimmekin onnistutaan jättämään autiolle saarelle, josta hän kuitenkin onnistuu pakenemaan yllättävien liittolaisten avulla. Ja siitä käynnistyy itseään toistava piirileikki, jossa henkilöt ajavat toisiaan takaa, ja onnistuvat välillä saamaan toisensa kiinni tai sitten välttymään täpärästi kuolemalta tai sitten "sitäkin kauheammalta kohtalolta", kuten legendaariseksi muodostunut lauseenparsi kuuluu."Tarzanin pedot" ei ole juonellisesti mikään mestariteos, eikä päähenkilönkään käytös ole aina sieltä loogisimmasta päästä, mutta onneksi camp-huumorista pitävä lukija pääsee nauttimaan edes ihmisapinoiden melontareissusta ja parista muustakin yhtä älyvapaasta kohtauksesta, jossa ei ole järjen häiventäkään.Burroughs ei olisi Burroughs, ellei mukana olisi myös runsaasti rasistisia stereotypioita, jotka kohdistuvat niin rotuun kuin kansallisuuteenkin (ruotsalaiset ovat muuten edustettuna peräti kahdella henkilöhahmolla). Ja vaikka kirjan takakansiteksti ei asiaa esille tuokaan, niin taitaapa olla, että petojen kastiin niputetaan ihmisapinalauman ja kesytetyn leopardin lisäksi myös musta alkuasukassoturi... No, aikaansahan nämä kirjat täytyy suhteuttaa, eikä maailma tosiaankaan ollut Sarajevon laukausten vuonna ihan samanlainen kuin nykyisin.Lapsuuden yksi suosikkikirjoista osoittautui siis keskivertoa kökömmäksi tapaukseksi, mutta lukumaratonia ei kuitenkaan jätetä kesken, vaan matka halki Afrikan viidakoiden jatkuu "Tarzanin pojalla"!
—Matti Karjalainen
